Champion drops Mendenhall over Osama Tweets

Champion announced last night that the company is dropping endorser Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall because of his controversial Tweets questioning the celebration over the death of Osama bin Laden.

Champion spokesperson Matt Hall said that the brand is ending its relationship with Mendenhall because he can no longer "appropriately represent Champion."

Before deleting it from his Twitter feed, Mendenhall wrote he has "a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style."

Mendenhall first signed with the Hanesbrands subsidiary in '08 and recently signed a four-year extension of his endorsement deal through '15.

Here is the full statement from Champion:
Champion is a strong supporter of the government's efforts to fight terrorism and is very appreciative of the dedication and commitment of the U.S. Armed Forces. Earlier this week, Rashard Mendenhall, who endorses Champion products, expressed personal comments and opinions regarding Osama bin Laden and the September 11 terrorist attacks that were inconsistent with the values of the Champion brand and with which we strongly disagreed. In light of these comments, Champion was obliged to conduct a business assessment to determine whether Mr. Mendenhall could continue to effectively communicate on behalf of and represent Champion with consumers. While we respect Mr. Mendenhall's right to express sincere thoughts regarding potentially controversial topics, we no longer believe that Mr. Mendenhall can appropriately represent Champion and we have notified Mr. Mendenhall that we are ending our business relationship. Champion has appreciated its association with Mr. Mendenhall during his early professional football career and found him to be a dedicated and conscientious young athlete. We sincerely wish him all the best.